• Home
  • Categories
    • Pregnancy
    • Parenting
      • Baby
    • Fashion
    • Reviews
    • Lifestyle
    • Beauty
    • Deployment Diaries
    • Blog Tips
    • Travel
  • WHAT MY KID WORE
    • What My Kid Wore
  • CONTACT
A UK Pregnancy, Parenting and Lifestyle Blog
October 18, 2016

2 Week Postpartum and Baby Update

2-weeks-postpartum-belly

MAMA

Recovery – my recovery is going ok. Again I feel like I’m bouncing back quicker than last time although…I ended up developing mastitis in my left side. Oh the pain. I had a bad fever, felt all shivery, weak and generally horrendous.

I was prescribed antibiotics by the GP and have to take them four times a day. I’ve been expressing and massaging with a hot flannel to try and clear it as well. Lovely stuff. I’m a lot less crampy this week which is great and the bleeding is tailing off a bit. Well, it stops and then comes back again. My muscles aren’t so sore and the tailbone pain is a lot better this week so we’re heading in the right direction! I’m just exhausted.

2-weeks-postpartum-belly-shot

Body – I’m in that awkward stage where my maternity clothes are too big and my pre pregnancy clothes are too small, which is a bit of a pain! I have a sort of pouch where my stomach should be. It’s all soft and jelly like. Those poor stomach muscles have been well and truly stretched. I’d forgotten how weird it feels to have stomach muscles that don’t work very well. Need to build them up again, once I’m allowed to exercise. Again, at just my ever changing boobs giving me the most hassle this week. Especially with the pain of the mastitis. It’s meant the left one has stayed inflamed and huge for days. Not nice.

Mood – this week has been just as bad as last week, if not worse, mood wise. I’m just so upset all the time. I often wonder whether I can cope with two and am generally feeling overwhelmed and sad 99% of the time. I didn’t want to feel like this and didn’t want to ruin L’s first few weeks being miserable, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I feel like such a crap mum and don’t feel like I’m doing anything right. I feel like I snap at Little I because I’m not feeling great. It’s horrible. The husband has left to go back on deployment and I feel like I’ve lost my main support system. My parents are amazing but I can’t moan at them as much as I can moan at R! 

2-week-old-baby

BABY

Weight/Height – L has dropped to 8lbs 1oz, which is really rubbish. I don’t really get it though because I’m expressing for him, he’s drinking lots and he’s having plenty of wet and dirty nappies.

Feeding – breastfeeding is still really tough and not going to plan. L still isn’t latching and it’s so painful and disheartening to keep trying at every feed. Sometimes he screams so hard that it makes me cry too. It’s like he doesn’t want to be near me and the thrashes about. I’m expressing every three hours and giving him that. I can now get about 59-75 mls out of the right side and 50ish mls out of the left. He drinks it all from a Medela Calma bottle. If he’s really desperate for more during the night I top him up with formula, but that doesn’t seem to happen very much. A midwife and a lot of friends have recommended a chiropractor so I managed to get booked in with one out in Banchory. The town one was fully booked till November the 30th!! I’ll literally try anything to see if it helps his feeding. I’ve decided, with the health visitor, to give it till next week to see if feeding improves, and if not I’ll come up with a plan for combi express feeding. Where I’ll express less and introduce more formula. Expressing every three hours is making me so sad and is ruining my time with him.

Routine – still now yet routine as of yet but I’ve found the one I’d like to follow in a couple weeks.

Sleeping – L is more alert now, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good for trying to get him to feed. Bad for trying to get anything done. Or for sleeping at night.

Size – still in newborn/up to one month.

Development – L is a lot more alert and is focusing on people’s faces more. He responds to noise and turns towards it sometimes to see what’s going on. He rolls but apparently according to the chiropractor, that’s not a good thing at this age. It’s because he has a lot of tension down one side of his back, causing his to arch and roll. You can tell he’s going to be as much of a character as his sister is with all his expressions and the faces he pulls.

What we’ve been up to – we had to say goodbye to dada, which sucked, so we’ve been keeping a bit of a low profile. We’ve had lots of lovely visitors and my mum had a little family get together tea party thing which was fun. We’ve been trying to get out of the house and even braved soft play with a friend (didn’t realise it was the school holidays – hell on earth!).

SHARE:

You Might Also Like

Silent Reflux Stole My Baby

When your baby won’t sleep

BabyBjörn Carrier We Launch Event

5 Month Baby Update


0 comments so far.

Welcome

Welcome

A twenty-something, full time working, mum of two, with a love for all things cat, cacti and scandi related.

“BiBs
BritMums

YOUTUBE

Archives

SEARCH

Categories

NETWORKS

TOTS100 - UK Parent Blogs
TOTS100

ASSOCIATIONS

SnuzMomma _Blogger stamp medela-mum-badge-2016-2
  • ABOUT
  • DISCLAIMER
  • Categories
    • Pregnancy
    • Parenting
    • Reviews
    • Weekend Tot Style
  • WORK WITH US
  • SHOP

thismamalife

Working mum to 2 👦🏼👧🏼
Wanderer/Military Wife 🌍
💌 sarah@thismamalife.com
💻 thismamalife.com
📽 YT: thismamalife
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Find me here!👇🏻

Kisses and cuddles with my faves 💖💫 Kisses and cuddles with my faves 💖💫
‘Each of us as citizens, has a role to play in c ‘Each of us as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children.’ - Nelson Mandela ❤️
It’s not enough though, is it? We’ve always h It’s not enough though, is it?

We’ve always had diverse toys in our house (not enough, but I’m working on it ❤️), but when questioned ‘why do you buy your kids Black dolls?’, I’ve faltered and answered incorrectly. I would respond saying ‘because that’s the doll Isla liked the best. What does it matter? We’re all human’, rather than questioning why that person is questioning it in the first place.

In a massive learning curve this week, where I am actively trying to become an anti-racist ally, not just anti-racist/non racist in general, I have found so many shortcomings in my effort to educate my kids and in my own attitudes towards race. But this isn’t about me. So here are some resources I’d like to share on top of the ones shared in my stories.

Some books to read:
Me and White Supremacy - Layla F. Saad.
Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge.
How to argue with a racist - Adam Rutherford.
Brit(ish) - Afua Hirsch.
White Fragility - Robin Diangelo.
I Am Not Your Baby Mother - Candice Brathwaite.
So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo.

Diverse kids books:
Anti Racist Baby - X. Kendi.
Riley Can Be Anything -Davina Hamilton.
Look Up - Nathan Bryon.
Mae Among The Stars - Roda Ahmed.
The Mega Magic Hair Swap - Rochelle Humes.
Let’s Talk About Race - Julius Lester.
Welcome To Our World - Moira Butterfield and Harriet Lynas.
This Book Is Antiracist - Tiffany Jewell.
The Extraordinary Gardener - Sam Boughton.
Let The Children March - Monica Clark-Robinson.
Ruby’s Worry - Tom Percival.
A Kids Book About Racism - Jelani Memory.

Some things to watch:
When They See Us.
13th.
Who Killed Malcom X.
Time: The Kalief Browder Story.
Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap.
Dear White People.
I am Not Your Negro.

My to do list:
- Sign more petitions.
- Donate to more causes.
- Listen to podcasts and share.
- Encourage changes in the school curriculum so that my children, and their classmates, get a better, much more rounded and diverse education.
- Call things out.
- Have honest/open conversations.
- Share content.
- To keep educating myself, whilst never expecting others to do it for me.

It’s just a starting point.

Thanks for listening x
Black Lives Matter. I can never pretend to unders Black Lives Matter.

I can never pretend to understand, but I will always stand.

I’ve been on a huge learning curve this week and have, shamefully, come to the realisation, which I should have a long time ago, that it’s not enough to just not be racist. We must also be actively anti-racist and do everything in our power to ensure our children are too.

Today is a day to stop, listen, support, educate ourselves, donate, sign petitions, take action in any way we can, big and small, to make sure that everyone knows we stand with our fellow humans, family and friends. But we can’t just do this today. We must do it each and every day going forward ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻
And breathe! First day without both my babies for And breathe! First day without both my babies for the first time in 10 weeks today and it couldn’t have gone better. Both had wonderful days and were full of stories when they got home. I said over on stories last night, which got an incredible response so thank you to everyone who reached out, that I am completely comfortable with my choice to send the kids back to school and nursery but would never, ever judge anyone who felt different. We are all in different boats in this storm we’ve found ourselves in and what works for my family, might not work for yours. I have deliberately stayed out of the ‘are you sending your kids back or not?’ debate as it started to feel like another toxic discussion, in the media and on social media, that was resulting in yet another parenting divide.
I could have had the kids in this whole time, under key worker provision, but tried my best to hang on till the phased reopenings that I hoped would happen when they did. They were what I was aiming towards. Don’t get me wrong, I have LOVED having the kids at home together for such a sustained period, we have made lots of memories and learnt so much more about each other, but mixed in with the nature of my job and the fact that @thisdadalife is deployed and so I’m on my own with minimal support, I couldn’t have gone on much longer.
When I got in from dropping them off today, and as I went upstairs to work at my desk, I literally collapsed on the stairs and almost cried in relief. Relief that we made it through, as dramatic as that sounds. I don’t think I realised the toll it was taking mentally as I was constantly running on adrenaline.
I am so happy to get a bit more balance back and to, most importantly, feel like a better mum again. Not a snappy trying to juggle it all 24/7 with no break mum.
If you sent your kids back today, whether you wanted to or not, I’m with you and support you.
If you have kept them home in your bubble for longer, I’m with you and support you.
If you’re still unsure what to do and are undecided, I am with you and support you.
Nobody knows the full extent of someone else’s circumstances and we have to stop and realise that before we judge anyone else ❤️
Ibiza vibes in Puerto Gardeno today 😂☀️😅 Ibiza vibes in Puerto Gardeno today 😂☀️😅
This is the first year in YEARS that I have felt ok wearing a bikini. And I feel like it’s more down to how strong I feel, rather than how I look. Whatever it is, I hope it continues ❤️
On another note, how tanned does the @filterbymollymae fake tan make you look! 🙌🏻
(Both bikini and cover up are from last year).
#losingmyboobstho #youwinsomeyoulosesomehaha
Load More... Follow
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

COPYRIGHT @THISMAMALIFE | Blog Design by KotrynaBassDesign
Just a little message to say we use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok cool!Disable third party non functional cookiesPrivacy policy